Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Online Credit Card Processing With An Internet Merchant Account

If you are in the process of building an ecommerce store for your online business, you are going to need a way to accept credit card payments online.
This processing is facilitated through what is known as an internet merchant account. You will actually require two things to establish your online processing:
The first is your internet merchant account itself, which is a bank account from a reputable credit card processing company, specifically approved for internet processing.
The second component is your online payment gateway, to enable your website’s shopping cart to communicate with the credit card processing provider, to request and obtain authorizations on customers’ credit card transactions.
These gateways act in real time and are secure. Almost all online payment gateways on the market also offer a virtual terminal – this will allow you to also manually process any orders you receive from phone, mail and even in person orders.
You should be sure to choose a provider that can set up both your online merchant account and your online payment gateway, so there will not be any compatibility issues that arise when your customers place their orders.
What is the paperwork that you will have to submit in support of your application for an online merchant account? In addition to the application form itself, most providers ask for three supporting documents, namely: documentation to show you are the owner of the business (a registered business name license); a void check from your business checking account (if it is a sole proprietorship, you can submit a personal check that displays your name); and your articles of incorporation, if your business is an incorporated company.
The owner (or one of the authorized signing officers if the business is incorporated) will be required to sign all of the internet merchant account documentation. A credit check will also be required. Most providers use a score of 600 on the credit check as the minimum score for approval. A score below 600 usually requires a co-signer or guarantor. If you have poor credit, there are a number of providers who will consider your application for an internet merchant account – although they will likely charge you higher rates for processing.

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